Replies

1. 
   DavidxDoud | Dec 13, 2002 05:48am | #1

   agree with Splintie - drive them in further and fill - I've got a japanese tool thats a little like a cats paw thats works as good as anything,  but if you have to dig to try to grab,  it still makes a mess - cut nails are near impossible - one thing that can help is oil - raw linseed oil at the nail, allow to soak in,  maybe repeat,  does make things slide out easier -

   
2. 
   Shepherd1800 | Dec 13, 2002 02:54pm | #2

   Barn,

   Someone makes and I think WoodCraft carries a device called a 'screw remover' or something like that.  It is in effect a small holesaw, they come in a couple of diameters.  It is placed over the nail and drills out a small cylinder of wood with the nail or screw.  These uniform holes can be plugged with dowels or plugs.  Good luck.

   Stephen Shepherd

   http://www.ilovewood.com

3. 
   efarmer4 | Dec 15, 2002 10:34am | #3

   The tool you want is called: "Cooper Group 56 Nail Puller", look on Amazon, although they don't sell it any more... maybe you can find it somewhere else. But you can see a picture of it there. It will pull just about anything out, headless, rusted, screws --what ever, it really is worth the cost. It does a lot less damage to the surface of the wood then any other method I've ever used.

   Edward

   Wow, Amazon sure ties up the tool market on the internet don't they?

   I googled "Cooper Group 56 Nail Puller" and found 4 or 5 pages of sites offering it, but they all lead right back to Amazom -who stopped selling the product. Ok, I did find one site who claims to sell it: Aubuchon Hardware

   http://tools.aubuchonhardware.com/hand_tools/nail_pullers/nail_puller-302265.asp

   or maybe a local real hardware store can get you one.

   
   

   ---

   Edited 12/15/2002 3:18:00 AM ET by EF

1. 
   LesBartel | Dec 17, 2002 04:06pm | #8

   Every time I've checked there were several Cooper 56 nail pullers on EBay.

    - les

   Edited 12/17/2002 8:07:43 AM ET by LESBARTEL

4. 
   crt2cu2 | Dec 16, 2002 02:29pm | #4

   barn,

   Try to find a tool known as a "cat's paw".  It has a jaw with one fixed claw and one claw hinged with a piece of iron protruding sideways at about a 90 degree angle.  The handle is a sliding hammer.  To use you position the claws on either side of a nail, slide and pound the handle which then drives the claws into the wood and clinches around the nail.  Then simple lever the nail out like using a crowbar.  A Cat's Paw will do some damage to the wood but with a little practice can be minimized.  Do all the nail pulling before any surfacing of course to minimize degrade.  I think any decent lumberyard, tool store, or maybe pawn shops or thrift stores should sell them.  I have had my grandfather's Cat's Paw for many years so have not shopped around looking for one.

   Another idea is to use a punch or nail set to drive the nail out the back side of the board, then use a rip hammer or channel lock pliers to lever the nail out.  Either way with any tool used, extraction will leave a hole of course which may have to be filled but isn't Chestnut famous for that "wormy hole look"?

   sawick

5. 
   crt2cu2 | Dec 16, 2002 02:33pm | #5

   barn

   I just read the post from EF and the link is exactly the tool I was describing.  All these years I just called it a Cat's Paw like my grandfather, not a "Coopers Group 56 Nail Puller".

   sawick

1. 
   rslatm | Dec 26, 2002 08:50pm | #9

   A cats paw is like the picture David Doud posted although it's the Japanese version which is better than the American cats paw.  The so called Coopers group is clearly not a cats paw.  We recycle antique lumber and make flooring and whatever.  We like the shark brand of cats paw. Holds up longer.  I'm not sure what the formal name of the cooper nail remover is but it is not a cats paw!!!!!

   Rick

6. 
   JamesC67 | Dec 16, 2002 08:52pm | #6

   Barn,   Thats what I do at some point almost every day since thats where I've gotten the  materials  for the furniture thats built in my workshop. It takes a lot of work but by the time it's cleaned jointed and planed there's just nothing that can match the patina that old wood has.  Personally, at first I use a metal detector and a red marking pen. I go through the peice that I'm working on and locate the metal then I simply put a circle around it  then using a combination of tools like a old pair of wire cutters and vicescripts a straight and philips screw drivers also using several prybars like a wonder bar a small flat bar and a cats paw but the most important tool is a scratch awl for digging down in and next to the metal.  But when the hardware's out of the wood I use a paint scraper and throughly go over the material before it goes through any blades or knives. Then either buy a coller and bit for your router or do it by hand but either way get good at creating dutchmen or if the hole's not real big you can glue in a plug. Well I hope this info might be of some help so Good Luck and Happy Holidays

   J.Clark   at the "PUTTERIN YANKEE"woodworking shop

7. 
   JMcIntee | Dec 17, 2002 07:26am | #7

   I heard of a guy once who held a piece of wire on the offending metal, and heated the wire with a small propane torch. I guess it burns a little wood around the nail and makes it easy to pull out. It may make less of a mark than digging for it.